G4S

G4S (formerly Group 4 Securicor), based in the United Kingdom, formed with the merger of international security firms Securicor and Group 4 A/S (formerly Group 4 Falck). It is now one of the top security firms in the world, along with Sweden's Securitas. G4S runs prisons, transports cash, provides security guards, and installs security systems and surveillance devices. It operates in some 100 countries and has 470,000 employees. U.S. based Wackenhut is a subsidiary.

G4s also provides hazardous material management, border security and cash management services. The company moves more than £300 billion in the UK each year.

The company is owned 57.5% by the stockholders of the former Group 4 Falck and 42.5% by the stockholders of the former Securicor. The new company's stock steadily rose ending 2004. 

Contracts

 * For the first time in twenty years, the military may use private guards at bases in the US. Wackenhut is providing security at 18 bases in the US, including Fort Bragg and West Point.


 * In the UK, on December 20, 2004, Securicor Justice Services was awarded a five year contract, that begins in April of 2005, by the Home Office to provide escort and removal services for the Immigration & Nationality Directorate. SJS is also supplying the Home Office with electronic surveillance services in England and Wales.


 * Manchester, England, has awarded G4S a seven-year contract for all of its City Council guarding services. This includes protecting 50 sites and an Incident Response Service.


 * On May 1, 2003, G4S was granted a five-year contract to provide base protection and security at Camp Bondsteel and Camp Montieth in Kosovo.


 * Through the Wackenhut Corporation subsidiary they provide armed guards for for airports, nuclear power plants, US embassies, and prisons. The security services also include consulting for areas where guards are deployed, fire and rescue services and background investigations. Through Wackenhut Services they offer services such as facilities maintenance, hazardous material management, security and law enforcement, emergency preparation and response, and they provide border protection for the Office of Homeland Security.


 * Wackenhut security teams also work for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, State Department, Treasury Department, as well as providing Customs Protection Officers and running major facility management and operations and maintenance contracts for NASA and the Air Force. This includes work at a Nevada nuclear test site, the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Center in Colorado, the Oak Ridge complex in Tennessee, and Department of Army ammunition plants.


 * G4S has been in Nepal since 1996 guarding embassies and businesses from Maoist attacks.


 * In November of 2002, G4S was given the go ahead to offer security services to clients in China. Among their first clients were IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant and Raffles City, a huge complex in Shanghai.


 * G4S provides security to many buildings, including the new mosque under construction in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.


 * The subsidiary, Cognisa Security, Inc., offers security consulting services to commercial and institutional clients in the US, transportation services, biometric technology installations, security guard training and staffing.


 * G4S has been protecting the deep-water port at Zeebrugge, Belgium since 1986


 * Securicor subsidiary, Argenbright Security, controlled 40% of the US market for airport screening until late 2001 when they entered a plea agreement admitting to several violations in regards to hiring practices, audits, labor violations, and falsifying statements to federal regulators, giving them honors of one the worst companies in 2001,, fined $1.5 million, and resulting in loss of the contract at Boston's Logan Airport and Bedford's Hanscom Airfield in November, 2001. They also had operations at Dulles, Newark and Chicago's O'Hare airports. Argenbright was not operating security measures for the  airlines of hijacked planes out of Logan on September 11, 2001. Argenbright exited in 2003.

Subsidiaries

 * AMAG Technology, Inc.
 * ArmorGroup
 * Cognisa Security, Inc.
 * Group 4 Securitas Northern Ireland, Ltd.
 * Group 4 Security Systems, Ltd.
 * Group 4 Technology, Ltd.
 * Group 4 Total Security, Ltd.
 * Henderson Security Electronics, Ltd.
 * Plantime Ltd
 * Securicor Cash Services
 * Securicor EMS, Inc.
 * Securicor International Valuables Transport
 * Securicor Justice Services, Ltd.
 * Securicor New Century LLC
 * Securicor Security Services, Ltd
 * Securitas Technology, Plc.
 * Wackenhut Corporation
 * Wackenhut International
 * Wackenhut UK, Ltd

Other Past & Current Clients

 * 3M
 * ABN AMRO
 * Ernst & Young
 * Exxon Mobil
 * General Electric
 * General Motors
 * Honeywell
 * IBM
 * Intel
 * Liggett-Ducat
 * Lucent Technologies
 * Pentagon: providers of the access control system
 * Philip Morris
 * Raiffeisen Bank
 * Societe Generale

Personnel
Key executives:
 * Nick Buckles, Chief Executive Officer
 * Trevor Dighton, Chief Financial Officer
 * Grahame Gibson, Chief Operating Officer & Divisional President, Security Services
 * Soren Lundsberg-Nielsen, Group General Counsel
 * Ken Niven, Divisional President – Cash Services
 * Irene Cowden, Group HR Director

Selected members of the Board of Directors:
 * Alf Duch-Pedersen, Chairman of the Board, also Chairman of the Board of Danske Bank, member of the general council of the Confederation of Danish Industries
 * Lord Condon, Deputy Chairman
 * Thorleif Krarup, Also Chairman of Dangaard Telecom and a director of Bang & Olufsen
 * Bo Lerenius, Non Executive Director
 * Malcolm Williamson, Former President and CEO of Visa International, Inc.
 * Hans Bennetzen, Regional President Northern Europe

Former personnel:
 * Waldemar Schmidt, Non Executive Director
 * Lord Sharman of Redlynch - former board member

Lobbying Expenditures




G4S spent $40,000 for lobbying in the first half of 2007, using the lobbying firm Duane Morris Government Affairs.

Contact details
"The Manor", Manor Royal Crawley RH10 9UN, United Kingdom Phone: +44-0-20-8770-7000 Fax: +44-0-20-7776-1301 Web: http://www.g4s.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Private Military Corporations

External articles

 * On the impact of hiring cheap labor, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger writes, "The Fight for the Rights of Security Workers Goes Global".